The Battle of Valls was fought on 25 February 1809, during the Peninsular War, between a French force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr and a Spanish force under Theodor von Reding. Fought near the town of Valls in Catalonia, Spain, the battle ended in a French victory. General Reding was fatally wounded during a cavalry charge against French cavalry.
Battle of Valls
Image: Gouvion saint cyr
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr was a French military commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire. He is regarded as Napoleon's finest commander in defensive warfare.
Portrait by Horace Vernet, 1821
Portrait by Jean-Urbain Guérin, 1801
Heraldic achievement of Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr as comte de l’Empire